In terms of renewable energy, solar power offers an incredible solution—except, of course, when it’s raining. A team of researchers at the National University of Singapore is hoping to change that through the development of a tool that produces electricity by harnessing rainwater. A recent study published in ACS Central Science illustrates how, exactly, such an innovation can be accomplished.
For their experiments, the research team relied upon charge separation, a scientific phenomenon in which oppositely charged particles separate and ultimately create a voltage between one another. To maximize this effect, which is otherwise quite inefficient if not negligible, scientists fashioned a device that sifted water through tiny tubes composed of an electrically conductive polymer.
“Water that falls through a vertical tube generates a substantial amount of electricity by using a specific pattern of water flow and plug flow,” Siowling Soh, one of the study’s authors, said in a statement.
“Plug flow” was a key ingredient to the device’s electricity generation, in which water moved in small columns separated by air pockets rather than in continuous floods.
“This plug flow pattern could allow rain energy to be harvested for generating clean and renewable electricity,” Soh added, though cautioned that this current device would be best suited for smaller and slower volumes of water.
Steel cups beneath the device’s tubes collected charged droplets, while wires connected to the top of the tube and the bottom of the cup harvested the electricity. This “plug flow” system managed to power 12 LED light bulbs, but could only keep pace for about 20 seconds. Even so, the team stressed the advantages of plug flow, highlighting its simple, inexpensive setup that can readily be “scaled up” for “large-scale harvesting,” whether it be in urban or rural environments.
To read the full study, visit ACS Central Science.
A recent study by scientists at the National University of Singapore found a way to generate renewable energy with falling drops of water.
Sources: A step toward harnessing clean energy from falling rainwater; Clever new technique turns falling rain into renewable energy; Clean energy from rain? Scientists generate electricity from falling droplets; Plug Flow: Generating Renewable Electricity with Water from Nature by Breaking the Limit of Debye Length
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